We are living in a world of technological diversity. Mobile and smart devices are gaining more momentum as people explore their usage in various sectors, whether personal or corporate. Today, a single household consists of multiple devices such as televisions, smartphones, laptops, tablets, manufactured by different vendors with diverse operating systems such as Android, iOS, macOS, Windows 10, etc.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has changed the way the world works, the last decade especially has brought on more efficient networking with interrelated devices, digital machines, software and other technologies to help connect and share information with diverse devices over the internet. With the rise of technology and devices in the market, businesses today rarely operate on single screens, they believe in exploring the diversity in devices. Enterprises have realized the value of adopting various devices and technologies to suit their diverse business needs, which has given rise to the adoption of a multi-device corporate ecosystem.
A multi-device ecosystem, as the name suggests, is an environment that operates on multiples types of devices with diverse functionalities and operating systems. Employees today desire to work on devices of their choice, whether they are corporate-owned or employee-owned (BYOD) to deliver successful results. Moreover, enterprise mobility has also played a huge role in the adoption of multiple types of devices ranging from smartphones, tablets, laptops to rugged devices, POS, hand-held devices, vehicle-mounted devices and many more specific for various industries use-cases.
Businesses believe in supporting a multi-device ecosystem to cater to the fragmented requirements of their teams, unlike the age-old method of adopting all devices compatible with a single operating system, for ease of management. Some of the top reasons for fostering device diversity are as follows;
The operational tasks of every team differ in an organization. Enabling employees to work on the devices and operating systems that are best suited for them helps them excel at their work and delivery better results. Several companies are now also supporting the BYOD (Bring your own device) work model to extend their employees the comfort of working from their personal devices no matter which brand, type and operating system they belong to.
With the traditional method of single-screen devices with a common operating system, there was always a chance of devices or operating systems experiencing outage or downtime which made all the devices collapse at once. With a mixed-device environment, even if one operating system or device type undergoes errors, then other devices can be relied upon to bridge the gap and ensure that work does not suffer.
The heterogeneity of devices and the various platforms they work on brings in a massive scope of scalability as compared to the functionalities presented by a single type of device. As businesses explore mobility, employees are no more confined to specific office spaces. With the advancement in various industrial sectors, comes a need to choose a tech stack that caters to the growing requirements of the businesses.
The concept of a multi-device ecosystem has already gained popularity in the corporate world. However, businesses face certain inevitable roadblocks mentioned below, that hold them back from embracing device diversity.
Even though businesses find device diversity appealing, most businesses have their own set of limitations when it comes to investing in technology. Fostering a multi-device environment is not easy since it requires enterprises to introduce and maintain several types of devices with specific operating systems while ensuring compatibility and uniformity with their business-specific tools. An enterprise that allows a BYOD environment needs to be furnished with resources to manage their employee-owned devices belonging to a different manufacturer and consisting of various platforms.
This not only means added investments in resources but also means that the enterprise’s IT team needs to be ready to take on the complex task of managing a combination of diverse devices and their management needs.
Virtual Private Network (VPN) is one of the most commonly adopted security measures by enterprises. It helps to establish a secure connection between the internet and the user to enable data sharing in a secure and encrypted manner. However, businesses that host multiple types of devices are required to individually ensure that their VPN is supported by their varied range of devices and operating systems. Incompatibility to some OS types necessitates organizations to adopt individual VPN networks compatible with their diverse devices.
Certain applications and tools are exclusive to specific operating systems. For example; Tweethbot, Timepage and several other apps are specific to iOS and are not available on Android or Windows. These incompatibility issues arising from device diversity can harm the business’s deliverables and productivity and add extra workload to the enterprise’s IT teams.
To achieve a stable and streamlined multi-device ecosystem, businesses need to ensure that they have the right resources to support a streamlined device diversity. Modern-day mobile device management (MDM) solutions such as Scalefusion help enterprises achieve a robust multi-device ecosystem.
Scalefusion MDM is a device and endpoint management solution that helps businesses streamline their device management across a diverse fleet of devices and operating systems through a single unified dashboard. Let’s take a deeper look at some of Scalefusion’s offerings that make it an ideal resource to optimize the management of diverse devices.
While operating system diversity is a major player in a multi-device ecosystem, businesses, especially the ones that operate with a hybrid workforce use devices that are not necessarily mainstream. Apart from the conventional smartphone, tablet, laptop and desktop management, businesses often need to manage several other devices such as digital signages, kiosks, handheld devices, point-of-sale devices, vehicle-mounted devices and more.
Kiosk management: Scalefusion MDM with its extensive set of features enables Kiosk mode management with single-app and multi-app modes that cater to industries such as retail, hospitality, logistics, education and many more. IT admins can configure Kiosk software settings and lock Android, Windows and iOS devices into purpose-built devices. Organizations can turn their Android POS and mPOS and Windows POS into single-purpose business kiosks.
Rugged device management: On-field workforces specific to industries such as construction, mining, warehousing, etc. prefer rugged devices that can sustain the harsh environments that these professions demand. While several MDM solutions offer device management capabilities applicable to regular consumer-based devices, enterprises often find themselves hunting for separate management software for rugged devices.
Scalefusion offers rugged device management capabilities for rugged mobile phones, tablets, handheld RFID readers, wearable computers, vehicle-mounted computers and more straight from its unified dashboard.
While the corporate world reaps the benefits of device heterogeneity, business leaders realize the value of implementing efficient solutions that help streamline their diverse management needs. Scalefusion MDM is a comprehensive solution that not provides an extensive set of functionalities to help reduce the burden of device management on the IT teams. From consumer devices like smartphones and laptops to rugged devices, Scalefusion MDM answers all your device management needs with its versatile features and a unified dashboard!
To know more, visit www.scalefusion.com or schedule a free demo here.